Anamon - Sketch 0: Nothing and Nowhere
by blind
Summary: Tai, Izzy, Mimi, Yolei and Cody are stuck in the middle of the desert. Minor Yoleizzy.


[A/N]: This is a (very) small part of a (much) larger series.  
That's Ana as in Analog, not Animal or Anime or Anatomy. Hope you  
have as much fun reading this as I did writing it.  
  
Disclaimer: Don't own Digimon. Wish I did.  
  
  
Anamon - Sketch 0: Nothing and Nowhere  
  
Four smallish figures quietly edged toward a sqat, low-key  
structure through the breezeless desert evening. A trucker passed  
them on the road, not really noticing, as he hummed along to the  
tunes of his radio, the tune of his rumbling engine cutting through  
the haze of Tai's consciousness. The interruption brought him  
back to alertness. He glanced around, checking on his friends.  
Mimi to his left, Cody on his right, contemplatively watching the  
truck's dust cloud trailing along behind it. Yolei's and Izzy were  
quiet; their earlier conversation, about computer things Tai wasn't  
terribly interested in, seemed to have ended. Mimi's silence was  
particularly unusual, but understandable.  
  
"Everyone doing okay?" Tai asked, breaking the silence. The four  
younger kids nodded, but were obviously as tired as he was. "Good,  
we're almost there," he added, pointing out the obvious.  
  
The diner's exterior was nondescript. It was a gray concrete  
building surrounded by a gray concrete parking lot with a gray sign  
that had the letters D I N E R etched in concrete, illuminated by   
grey light that was so constant and harsh that it might as well   
have been concrete too. The kids entered single-file, youngest  
first.  
  
The interior was more colorful than the exterior, and nicely cooled  
by spinning ceiling fans. Truckers, drifters and vagabonds were  
scattered around the room, a few in groups, mostly alone. Glances  
found their way to the digi-destined, but none stuck. They passed  
an aging CD jukebox where a tall, thin young man with long, pale  
yellow hair and black leather from collarbone to ankles was making   
a song selection. He glanced over his shoulder at Mimi, smiled and  
winked.  
  
Mimi looked away shyly. Izzy noticed the exchange and thought  
back to the parking lot. Mostly trucks, and a few cars. They were  
all a little too conservative for Mr. Leather Pants, though. Much  
more likely was that he had come in one of the two motorcycles. It  
was new, but even if Mimi could charm the guy, a motorcycle would  
be much too small for the five of them.  
  
Cody led the group to a booth. It was cozy, but selected to give  
them a good view of the room, and of the parking lot. When they  
sat down, he was the first to speak, and brought up what was on  
everyone's mind. "Wherever we're going, we need a ride."  
  
"Well I'm hungry," Mimi grinned, changing the subject. "And we  
need to eat, too. First things first."  
  
"Yeah, we do, but are we sure it's safe for us to stick around  
here?" Tai asked, his voice low.  
  
"It doesn't matter. I don't think I could walk another step, let  
alone run from an enemy," Yolei whimpered. Tai nodded and joined  
Mimi in scanning the menu. Underneath the table, Yolei pulled off  
her shoes a bit carelessly and flopped her head down onto the  
table. Izzy noticed the shape of her shoulders beneath her hair,  
the tension in them, her vulnerability in that moment. It had  
been a long day, for her especially. He squeezed her shoulder  
gently, a friendly gesture. She opened an eye to look up at him  
and his nervous little smile, closed it again, and moved away  
from the table, ducking under Izzy's arm as she settled neatly  
against his side, head resting on his shoulder.  
  
He blinked and glanced toward the others, surprised at finding the  
young girl suddenly so affectionate, but they didn't seem to take  
notice. It was late, they were alone, tired, hungry, and didn't  
have the protection of their digimon. A little comfort was in  
order. He placed his arm around her supportively and warmly, and  
she relaxed, smiling inwardly.  
  
Eventually a waitress came and took orders. Everyone got  
omelettes. While they were waiting for their food to arrive, Mimi  
noticed a bus sitting in the parking lot.  
  
"Tai, do you know what Mesh of Flesh is?"  
  
"Mesh of Flesh? No, I don't, Mimi."  
  
"They're a band," Cody said flatly. "Sort of. An industrial  
group."  
  
"That's right," Mimi said. "Now I remember. I guess they're on  
tour. Hey, do you think that's them, over there?" She pointed  
toward the table where the guy from the jukebox was sitting,  
along with other men of varying ages but similar outfits. Tai  
and Cody looked.  
  
"Probably," Tai answered tentatively. "I don't know who else  
in here it could be."  
  
Mimi got out of the booth and walked over to the table where the  
guys with the bus were sitting. After a few miniutes of chatting  
and laughing, she came back.  
  
"What did they say?" Tai asked, hiding his anxiety.  
  
"They'll give us a ride all the way to Berkeley, but we have to  
do something for them."  
  
"Uh oh. What is it?"  
  
"We have to play Truth or Dare with them."  
  
"What? With THEM? No way, what if they dare us to do something  
crazy?"  
  
"Oh, we don't have to worry about that. They seem like nice  
guys. And besides, if you don't want to risk having to do  
something you'd regret, you can just take a truth."  
  
"It's better than being stuck here," Cody pointed out.  
  
The omelettes, when they came, were nice and filling.  



End file.
